Ball and adjustable paddle game



Dec. 26, 1967 A. J. WATHEN 3,3 0

BALL AND ADJUSTABLE PADDLE GAME Filed Jan. 21, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 @1 v 02' 51,12 JZI 50 FIGJA 54 53 J 5s 55 F|G.3

INVENTOR. v ALPHONSUS J. WATHEN ATTORNEY Dec. 26, 1967 A. J. WATHEN 3,360,266

BALL AND ADJUSTABLE PADDLE GAME Filed Jan. 21, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet z FIGJO INVENTOR.

ALPHONSUS J. WATHE N ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,360,266 BALL AND ADJUSTABLE PADDLE GAME Alphonsus J. Wathen, Rte. 1, Floyds Knobs, Ind. 47119 Filed Jan. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 426,806 4 Claims. (Cl. 27395) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Discloses a ball and paddle game for use in a game course in which the paddle is angularly adjustable between driving and chipping positions for driving a relatively nonresilient ball into position for chipping into raised bottomless targets. Discloses additionally a novel paddle and a novel bracket for easy assembly and disassembly of the targets.

This invention relates to a novel ball and paddle game for utilization in a game course. More particularly, this invention relates to a game designed primarily for use outdoors whereby a large or a small course may be utilized An object of this invention is to provide a game combining in a novel form features which increase the opportunities of the player to exercise skill and judgment.

A further object of this game is to provide apparatus which may be ingeniously arranged to provide many variations in course layout.

Another object of this game is to provide apparatus whereby the parts may be easily and quickly assembled i and disassembled to facilitate setting up a course in one area and disassembling said course quickly.

Other objects will occur to those skilled in the art from the detailed description and drawings.

The game is designed to be played by two or more players whereby each player makes use of a paddle having a tilted blade and a ball which is relatively nonresilient so as to react to impact with a governed speed of travel and a series of open top and open bottom boxes, the object being to knock the ball into the air and into the top of the box. One of the features of the game is that it allows the player on the initial stroke to put as much power into the stroke as he desires. The ball, being relatively non-resilient, normally will not travel sulficiently out of range to be in line for the next shot. However, as the ball approaches the box, an element of skill and judgment becomes involved since each of the boxes is designed so as to provide one or more easy approaches and one or more diflicult approaches. Therefore, in the second or third shot for a particular box, a great deal of skill and judgment is involved in placing the ball so as to be in a position to be easily knocked into the box. A tee is used on each shot since it is necessary not only to hit the ball but to provide a certain amount of lift in order that the ball will clear the walls of the box. Furthermore, the paddle is adapted in a preferred embodiment to be tilted in more than one position so as to provide more or less lift as required. Additionally,'since the ball is light and relatively non-resilient, it will be affected by air currents thus enhancing the amount of'skill and judgment necessary to successfully play the game.

Referring now to the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a .plan view of a typical course.

FIG. 1a is a view ilustrating a marking system for the tee-off stations. I

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bracket member.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a side segment of a box.

FIG. 4 is an elevation of an end segment of a box illustrating the relation of the corner brackets thereto.

3,360,266 Patented Dec. 26, 1967 FIG. 5 is a top view of a corner bracket assembly containing phantom lines illustrating the various angles at which the body portion of the bracket may be bent.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a box illustrating the use of various brackets in producing a multi-angular structure.

FIG. 7 is an end elevation of the paddle of this invention wherein the broken lines illustrate the various positions of the paddle blade.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of said paddle.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the housing of said paddle taken along lines 9-9 of FIG. 8 with the outer face plate removed to illustrate the internal locking mechanism.

FIG. 10 is an elevation of the outer face plate illustrating the interior surface thereto.

FIG. 11 is a side elevation and view of the tee and ball utilized in the game of this invention.

FIG. 12 is a view of the detent plunger and trigger mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1 which illustrates a typical course, the tee-off stations are designated by numerals 1 through 7. Associated with each of the tee-off stations is an open top and open bottom box or container C of a particular shape. Thus, for example, box 8 is rectangular, box 9 is V-shaped, box 10 is T-shaped, box 11 is L-shaped, box 12 is in the shape of an inverted C, box 13 is cross-shaped, box 14 is funnel-shaped. Each of the tee-off stations is marked by a tee station marker 15 which may be merely a chalk or paint mark or, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, may consist of a series of four eye pegs 16 through which a white plastic covered clothes line 17 is threaded and secured at each end by knot 18. The pegs are then driven into the ground so that the eyes and the clothes line are at about ground level. It will be noted that with each of the boxes illustrated in FIG. 1 that there is one or more easy approaches and one or more difficult approaches. Thus, for example, with box 8 the diflicult approach is illustrated by numeral 20 and an easy approach is illustrated by numeral 21. If the ball B is in the position designed by numeral 20, it is extremely difficult to get sufficient lift to the ball without overshooting the box. However, if the ball B is in line with the longitudinal axis of the box, there is a much better chance of getting sufficient lift and placing the ball properly.

Other difficult and easy positions are illustrated by numerals 20 and 21, respectively, with various other boxes.

One of the features of this game is its portability. The game has been designed so that the boxes may be easily assembled and disassembled and this is made possible by the use of specially designed end segments and side segments and the use of specially designed bracket members. As will be noted in FIGS. 3 and 4, the end 27 and side 26 segments are of a uniform shape, the only difference being in their length. Each of the segments contains a body portion 50 and end portions 51. Each segment is flat at the bottom and contains two notches 55 on the bottom surface about aninch from each corner. At the top of each of the segments are located two notches 54 which are located so as to be directly opposed to the bottom notches. However, the space between the notch and the corner at the top is curved to form a sort of a shoulder 53. These are designed for use with bracket 25 which will now be described.

Referring now to the bracket 25, this consists of a body portion 30, a leg portion 31 and a stop member 32.

tains an upper engagement dog 36. The upper engagement dog 36 is fitted so as to ride in an arcuate slot 37. Attached to the finger member 35 by rivet 39 is a spring 38 which anchors to the body member by means of rivet 40. Phantom line 41 illustrates the median of the body member. As is illustrated in FIG. 4, the bracket is fit onto the end segment 27 by first engaging lower engagement dog 33 in slot 55. The upper engagement dog 36 riding in slot 37 is then pressed into engagement with the curved shoulder 53. Thereafter, by pressing the bracket against the end segment 27, the engagement dog 36 rides along the curved surface 53 of the segment and by action of spring 38 snaps into the upper notch 54. The bracket is also easily disengaged by merely lifting the end of the finger member 35 up against the biasing pressure of "spring 38 until it hits the curved surface of shoulder 53 to snap out of engagement for disassembling the box.

As is illustrated in FIG. 5, these brackets are designed to be mass produced so that the bracket may be bent along the median line 41 at various angles such as 30, 120, 90 or left unbent at 180. By use of these brackets, it is possible, therefore, to produce a box of almost any desired shape. This allows the use of standardized side segments 26 of, for example, one, two and three foot lengths and the use of standardized end segments 27 of, say, one foot lengths.

The paddle P of this invention consists of a handle 60 having a shank 61 which, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, terminates into split arm 62 to accommodate, by means of rivet 63, the tongue 64 of the housing 65. Connected to the housing is an inner face plate 69 which is connected by a weld 70 to blade 66. The blade 66 is preferably covered with a rubber cobbled surface 67 such as the surface used with ping pong paddles. As is best shown in FIG. 9, the housing wall 65 contains an inset 74 in which the inner face plate 69 and outer face plate 71 are fitted. Both the outer and inner face plates on their inner surface contain a large slot 72 in which a detent plunger 77 and spring 76 are fitted. The tip 78 of the plunger 77 is designed to fit into various detent notches 75 on the interior surface of the housing wall. The two face plates are held in engagement by use of bolts which fit into bolt holes 75 in both the inner and outer face plates so that the entire assembly rotates around the inset portion 74 of the housing wall 65. In the outer face plate 71 there is located a slot 80 for provision of the trigger mechanism which consists of neck 79 and trigger 68. The trigger is thus operatively connected through neck 79 to the plunger member 77. The trigger 68 can therefore be manipulated to raise the tip 78 of plunger 77 out of engagement with one of the detent notches 75 in order to change the angle of the blade to vary the lift.

While the paddles illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 are specially designed so as to provide two degrees of lift for either right or lefthand players, it is, of course, within the scope of this invention to utilize handles with blades set at pre-determined angles. The segments of the boxes have been designed to be cheaply and easily made of sheet metal by conventional stamping operations and to be fit together easily and simply by use of bracket members which are capable of being made by mass production techniques.

As many and various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, it is intended that the scope of this invention not be limited except as to be commensurate with the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Game apparatus for use in a game course comprising:

(1) a set of paddles, a set of balls and a series of boxes in which (a) each of said paddles contains an elongated 4 handle and a blade, said blade being tilted tangentially from its vertical axis to provide lift,

(1) said blade being angularly adjustable between at least two positions so as to provide a driving position and a chipping position;

(h) each of said balls being light and relatively non-resilient so as to react to impact with a governed speed of travel,

(c) each of said boxes being closed at the side and end being open at the top and bottom,

(i) each of said boxes being so constructed so as to provide at least one easy approach and at least one diificult approach relative to the playing position of a ball;

(a) said easy approach presenting the long axis of at least a portion of the box in alignment with said ball, and

(b) said difiicult approach presenting the short axis of at least a portion of the box in alignment with said ball;

(d) mounting means for elevating the bottom of said boxes from a position level with the ground up to a height from the ground less than the diameter of one of said balls so as to maintain the top of each box in a substantially horizontally level plane.

2. Game apparatus for use in a game course comprising:

(1) a set of paddles, a set of balls and a series of boxes in which (a) each of said paddles contains an elongated handle and a blade, said blade being tilted tangentially from its vertical axis to provide lift,

(1) said blade being angularly adjustable between at least two positions so as to provide a driving position and a chipping position;

(b) each of said balls being light and relatively non-resilient so as to react to impact with a governed speed of travel,

(0) each of said boxes being closed at the side and end and being open at the top and bottom,

(i) each of said boxes having a long axis in one direction and a short axis in another direction, said long axis providing an easy approach and said short axis providing a ditficult approach;

((1) mounting means for elevating the bottom of said boxes from a position level with the ground up to a height from the ground less than the diameter of one of said balls so as to maintain the top of each box in a substantially horizontally level plane.

3. Game apparatus for use in a game course comprising:

(1) a set of paddles, a set of balls and a series of boxes in which:

(a) each of said paddles contains an elongated handle and a blade, said blade being tilted tangentially from its vertical axis to provide lift,

(1) said blade being angularly adjustable between at least two positions so as to provide a driving position and a chipping position;

(b) each of said balls being light and relatively non-resilient so as to react to impact with a governed speed of travel,

(0) each of said boxes being fabricated of side segments and end segments so as to be open at the top and bottom,

(i) said end segments being significantly shorter than said side segments and being joined at each end to one of said side segments so as to define an angle of at the point of each juncture;

(d) mounting means for elevating the bottom of said boxes from a position level With the ground up to a height from the ground less than the diameter of one of said balls so as to maintain the top of each box in a substantially horizontally level plane.

4, Game apparatus for use in a game course compris- (l) a set of paddles, a set of balls and a series of boxes in which:

(a) each of said paddles contains an elongated handle and a blade, said blade being tilted tangentially from its vertical axis to provide lift,

(1) said blade being angularly adjustable between at least two positions so as to provide a driving position and a chipping position;

(h) each of said balls being light and relatively non-resilient so as to react to impact with a governed speed of travel,

(c) each of said boxes being fabricated of side segments and end segments so as to be open at the top and bottom,

(i) said end segments being significantly shorter than said side segments and being joined at each end to said side segments,

(ii) the sides of said box being formed by a plurality of side segments joined together so as to define at least one angle between side segments of less than 180;

(d) mounting means for elevating the bottom of said boxes from a position level with the ground up to a height from the ground less than the diameter of one of said balls so as to maintain the top of each box in a substantially horizontally level plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,027,163 3/1962 Saatzer.

FOREIGN PATENTS 148,070 1920 Great Britain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, Examiner.

M. R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. GAME APPARATUS FOR USE IN A GAME COURSE COMPRISING: (1) A SET OF PADDLES, A SET OF BALLS AND A SERIES OF BOXES IN WHICH (A) EACH OF SAID PADDLES CONTAINS AN ELONGATED HANDLE AND A BLADE, SAID BLADE BEING TILTED TANGENTIALLY FROM ITS VERTICAL AXIS TO PROVIDE LIFT, (1) SAID BLADE BEING ANGULARLY ADJUSTABLE BETWEEN AT LEAST TWO POSITIONS SO AS TO PROVIDE A DRIVING POSITION AND A CHIPPING POSITION; (B) EACH OF SAID BALLS BEING LIGHT AND RELATIVELY NON-RESILIENT SO AS TO REACT TO IMPACT WITH A GOVERNED SPEED OF TRAVEL, (C) EACH OF SAID BOXES BEING CLOSED AT THE SIDE AND END BEING OPEN AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM, (I) EACH OF SAID BOXES BEING SO CONSTRUCTED SO AS TO PROVIDE AT LEAST ONE EASY APPROACH AND AT LEAST ONE DIFFICULT APPROACH RELATIVE TO THE PLAYING POSITION OF A BALL; (A) SAID EASY APPROACH PRESENTING THE LONG AXIS OF AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE BOX IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID BALL, AND (B) SAID DIFFICULT APPROACH PRESENTING THE SHORT AXIS OF AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE BOX IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID BALL; (D) MOUNTING MEANS FOR ELEVATING THE BOTTOM OF SAID BOXES FROM A POSITION LEVEL WITH THE GROUND UP TO A HEIGHT FROM THE GROUND LESS THAN THE DIAMETER OF ONE OF SAID BALLS SO AS TO MAINTAIN THE TOP OF EACH BOX IN A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY LEVEL PLANE. 